System and method for room decoration and inheritance

ABSTRACT

Collaboration space object model provides for a Place consisting of rooms. A room is made up of pages. Folders are used to organize pages. Members belong to rooms, and are those users authorized to access them. Place type controls the creation of a place, including how many rooms it has, for example. Room type controls the appearance and content of rooms. A form manages the display of data notes. A form can contain fields for containing data and employ scripts to process and compute data. A page is the basic vehicle for content. Content is created using an or importing content from an external source. A member is also a data note, and each place contains its own member directory. A place is created and managed from a client browser in on-line mode and in offline mode with respect to a replicated copy of the space. Room security is independently managed, and security and aesthetics characteristics of subrooms selectively inherited. Room navigation and workflow processing is provided, as are forms creation and uploading from browser to server.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Co-pending U.S. patent applications:

Ser. No. 09/473,745, filed 28 Dec. 1999, entitled “System and Method forInterconnecting Secure Rooms”;

Ser. No. 09/473,630, filed 28 Dec. 1999, entitled “System and Method forDynamic Management of Web Site”;

Ser. No. 09/473,640, filed 28 Dec. 1999, entitled “System and Method forPresentation of Room Navigation”;

Ser. No. 09/473,098, filed 28 Dec. 1999, entitled “System and Method forIndependent Room Security Management”;

Ser. No. 09/477,477, filed 4 Jan. 2000, entitled “System and Method forDynamically Generating Viewable Graphics”;

Ser. No. 09/477,471, filed 4 Jan. 2000, entitled “System and Method forDynamic Browser Management of Web Site”;

Ser. No. 09/477,469, filed 4 Jan. 2000, entitled “System and Method forOnline/Offline Uninterrupted Updating of Rooms in Collaboration Space”;

Ser. No. 09/477,473, filed 4 Jan. 2000, entitled “System and Method forClient Replication of Collaboration Space”;

Ser. No. 09/477,476, filed 4 Jan. 2000, entitled “System and Method forBrowser Creation and Maintenance of Forms”;

Ser. No. 09/478,238, filed 4 Jan. 2000, entitled “System and Method forBrowser Definition of Workflow Documents”; are assigned to the sameassignee hereof and contain subject matter related, in certain respect,to the subject matter of the present application. The above-identifiedpatent applications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to web technology. More particularly, it relatesto the creation and use of collaboration sites on the Internet or on anintranet client/server system and to the graphical user interface usedin Internet communications.

BACKGROUND ART

The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) provide intra-enterpriseconnectivity, inter-enterprise connectivity and application hosting on alarger scale than ever before. By exploiting the broadly available anddeployed standards of the Internet and the WWW, system users anddesigners can leverage a single architecture to build client/serverapplications for internal use that can reach outside to customers,business partners and suppliers.

Collaboration requires simultaneous communication between individuals ona project team. Typically, this has required that the team members workin the same location. Phone and video conferencing has enabled someremote work on the part of team members. Also, because of the growth ofthe Internet, collaboration using web technologies has been attempted,primarily using electronic mail (E-mail), Internet chat rooms,electronic whiteboards, and conferencing software. The most useful hasbeen E-mail, but this approach results in a large trail or thread ofnotes as collaboration on a project advances, and these notes have nohome or place to reside which is accessible by all team memberssubstantially instantaneously and simultaneously. People often entersuch a thread at different points, and such threads are not efficient incoordinating the work of many different people on a team which mayinclude in-house developers and others, such as remote contractors,outside of an enterprise's firewall.

In order for such disperse teams to have the same, or substantially thesame, collaboration environment as individuals working in the samephysical office, a system is required which facilitates instantmessaging, voice conferencing, electronic white boarding, and text andnon-text file exchange. Such a system needs to provide a collaborativeelectronic room, or space, which is easily configured for use by teammembers without substantial administrative or application developmentsupport, and preferably include both groupware and project orientedapplications such as shared folders, file exchange, workflow, groupcalendars, threaded conversations, version control, file locking, filemerging, and security.

There is a need in the art for such a system which is easy to set up andwhich enables diverse and remote teams to become immediately productivein a secure environment. It would be, further, most desirable to allowsuch a collaborative environment to be set up without administrativesupport, that is by members of the team itself, using a familiar andeasy to use browser user interface. Members of the team, acting withmanager or author authority, and using such a browser interface withoutinvolving administrative or application development support, need to beable to set up a folder or room for each project element, such as asource code component, with version control, workflow elements, andgroup calendaring for tracking the project or project element withrespect to approvals and deadlines. Such a room needs to receive fromteam members reports and have them routed to appropriate team membersfor review, resolution, and approval.

FIG. 1 shows a commonly used network arrangement in which a plurality oflocal computer systems 101-104 in a local area network (LAN) may accessa plurality of remote servers 105-108 through the Internet 100. Eachremote server may be a web server (such as a Domino(™) web server,available from Lotus Development Corporation of Cambridge, Mass.) forproviding a web site for access by local computer systems 101-104. Eachweb site normally further provides a plurality of web pages to be servedto the local computer systems upon request. Each local computer systemmay access the remote web sites with web browser software.

The WWW is a collection of servers on an IP (Internet Protocol) network,such as the Internet, an Intranet or an Extranet, that utilize theHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Hereinafter, “Internet” 100 will beused to refer to any IP network.

HTTP is a known application protocol that provides users with access tofiles, which can be in different formats, such as text, graphics,images, sound, and video, using a standard page description languageknown as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Among a number of basicdocument formatting functions, HTML allows software developers tospecify graphical pointers on displayed web pages, commonly referred toas “hyperlinks,” that point to other web pages resident on remoteservers. Hyperlinks commonly are displayed as highlighted text or othergraphical image on the web page. Selection of a hyperlink with apointing device, such as a computer mouse, causes the local computer todownload the HTML associated with the web page from a remote server. Thebrowser then renders the HTML into the displayed web page.

Web pages accessed over the Internet, whether by a hyperlink, openingdirectly via an “open” button in the browser, or some other means, arecommonly downloaded into the volatile cache of a local computer system.In a computer system, for example, the volatile cache is a high-speedbuffer that temporarily stores web pages from accessed remote web sites.The volatile cache thus enables a user to quickly review web pages thatwere already downloaded, thereby eliminating the need to repeat therelatively slow process of traversing the Internet to access previouslyviewed web pages. This is called local caching.

On the server side, the first web servers were merely HTTP servers thatresolved universal resource locators (URLs) by extracting literally fromthe URL the path to a file that contained the needed page, andtransmitting the page back to the browser. Such a server was verysimple; it could only be used to access static pages.

A “static” page is a page which, each time it is requested and served toa requester, has the same byte content. That is, it does not depend uponwhich requester is requesting the page, when the requester is requestingthe page, etc., the byte content of that page remains the same. Bycontrast, a “dynamic page” is a page which has byte content that mayvery well change depending upon the particular requester, when the pageis being requested, etc. This will be discussed further below.

It is important that web pages be served as quickly as possible, both toreduce the response time to a single user, and to increase the number ofusers that can be served concurrently. To improve the response time, theWeb server uses caches. Web server caches are used to store web pageresponses in a readily accessible memory location so that when the webpage is requested by a user, a previously cached web page response canbe retrieved from cache and served quickly to the user.

Heretofore, collaboration on the Internet relied on the use of E-mail.The result has been the creation of a large thread or trail of noteshaving no home or place. It is a characteristic of such threads thatpeople enter thread at different points and may or may not have readyaccess to the information required to facilitate collaboration.

In past, there has been no convenient way to take information off a wordprocessor document and put on the Internet in one step. To put adocument file on the Internet for viewing, a user must establish a webserver, load the file into a word processor, save it as HTML, and thenfind other related files and copy all of the files to the web server,and put them in the correct directory. One solution for this complexprocedure is a web folder, that allows a user to upload files toInternet for viewing. Such a web folder presents a web server to theuser as if it were a regular file directory, so the user can save thefiles to this directory. Even in this solution, it is still necessaryfor the user to establish the web server or obtain permission to use onealready created. Further, this approach does not present context ofdocument to the user during the upload process. Consequently, there is aneed in the art for a way for a user to create a web site without webserver, and create a document with pages within that site a createdcontext, which is where on the Internet this document appears.

Previously, in a hierarchical database, security could not be increasedin subfiles with respect to a parent file. Also, in the past, directoryentries or other indicia identifying objects to which a user did nothave access were shown, but were greyed out or otherwise managed so thatuser access was inhibited. There is a need in the art, therefore, forproviding for managing access to files in a hierarchical database wheresecurity may increase or decrease at a child with respect to its parent,and where indicia identifying objects to which the user does not haveaccess not displayed.

Heretofore, a user can upload a document to a web site through the useof directories and file trees. These may not be intuitive for the user.Consequently, there is a need in the art for a way to upload documentswhich involves the more intuitive process of dragging and dropping thedocument to the spot on the site where it is to be rendered.

In accordance with various systems for supporting remote applicationexecution, a Java version of a database engine is configured with atransactional replication feature by which there is brought down from aserver to a browser, client data and application logic, or dynamic HTMLis downloaded to a browser environment where developers can write atransportable application from scratch. However, these systems,including the transactional replication feature, do not download thesecurity model, and thus are not user filtered in the sense that accesscontrol lists, reader filtration, and selective replication aresupported at the browser. Security, in such systems, is administered atthe server, and not at the browser. Consequently, there is a need in theart for a system and method which enables full replication of serverfunctions at a browser, which may be operating off line from the server,which functions include application code, data, and security.

Previously in web technologies, generation of graphics was donemanually. A graphics artist would use Adobe Photoshop or Paintshop Pro,and similar applications, responsive to a specification provided by arequester for a particular graphic, and to generate for it a graphicfile, in, for example, a graphics interchange format (.gif). This is atime consuming process, and not dynamic in the sense of generating websites, etc. A designer needs to lay out the fonts, graphics, etc, andmay need to change the character set to make the resulting graphicviewable in other countries or cultures. Consequently, there is a needin art to get graphic artist out of the loop, and make the processdynamic.

Heretofore, a user could not interactively create and modify a web site.The process for creating a web site has been to use the file transferprotocol (FTP) to upload files that define the site. There is a need inthe art for a way to enable a user at a browser to create a site,including a place and rooms, and then to create and modify folders andmake other structural changes to the site.

Heretofore, templates and wizards have existed for designing theaesthetic characteristics of a web site. However, there has been no wayfor the aesthetic characteristics of a parent object to be inherited byits children objects.

Heretofore, people can design forms locally using HTML and upload themto their web site. The problem in doing this is that such a form isstrictly a layout of fields, and there is no logic that defines whereand how the data should be stored. Consequently, there is a need in theart for a server having facility for accepting and storing form data ina page.

Workflow involves having someone fill out a form and submit it on theweb. The form then travels to individuals in a prescribed set and order.Typically, for providing workflow on the web, a Domino designer designsa data base containing the form that is used by others having access tothat database. There is a need to allow users, not skilled as designers,to create workflow documents from a web browser.

It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method whichenables a user to accelerate productivity by easily creating andmaintaining collaborative spaces on a network.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodwhich enables a user to customize security attributes of rooms in acollaborative space including a hierarchy of rooms.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor providing collaborative space for each project of a plurality ofindividual browser created and managed projects.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor creating collaborative space that is expressive and offers a rangeof features that allow individuals to express their own personalities,such as through the use of graphics and animations.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor creating collaborative space that is readily accessible to the user,capable of being installed from a web service or from a CD with verylittle effort.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a teamwork system andmethod for enabling teams and workers within or between companies toeasily set up a common electronic workplace to communicate, share andorganize information and documents around any task, project, orinitiative.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a team ware systemand method which supports small teams that are working together on veryproject centered or activity oriented things.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor uploading a document without opening it but by selecting and puttingthe file to a place automatically.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor uploading documents which involve the more intuitive process ofdragging and dropping the document to a spot on the site where it is tobe rendered.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodincluding within a web site a context for files allowing a user at abrowser to create a new page and determine its location.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor automatically converting a file while dragging the file to a newplace.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor drag and drop uploading from a browser to a server of non-HTML filesviewable as HTML files and editable as non-HTML files.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor managing security of files in a hierarchical database such thatsecurity may increase or decrease at a child with respect to its parent.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor managing a hierarchical database such that indicia only identifyingobjects to which the user does have access are displayed.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an end user a dynamicsystem and method for generating graphical displays.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor enabling a user to dynamically create and modify a web site.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor enabling browser creation and modification of web sites.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor enabling uninterrupted online and offline updating of a web site.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodwhereby the aesthetic characteristics of a parent room may be inheritedby its children rooms.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an offline user afull web site interaction experience.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodwhereby a user at a browser may create forms, and incorporate them intoa room.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a server system andmethod for accepting and storing form data in a page.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and methodfor enabling a browser to define a work flow document and process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, and system and method is provided forapplying aesthetics to places within collaboration space. A room ischaracterized by first aesthetics at its creation and second aestheticsfollowing modification. Subrooms created before modification of the roominherit first aesthetics. Sub-rooms the room after modification inheritsecond aesthetics unless the sub-room has been modified with thirdaesthetics prior to modification of the room.

Other features and advantages of this invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description of the presently preferredembodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a prior art Internet environment.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram of a prior art Notes/Web environment.

FIG. 3 is a system diagram of a server having caching capabilityadaptable for use in the system and method of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram of a prior art computer which may be used ata client or server node in connection with the invention.

FIG. 5 is a system diagram illustrating the place server of thepreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a system diagram illustrating QuickPlace server databases andtemplates.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating QuickPlace objects.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the creation of a place.

FIG. 9 is a system diagram illustrating components of the place serverof FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical structure of rooms withroom based security.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a forward pointer in a room from FIG.10.

FIG. 12 is a system diagram illustrating file updating.

FIG. 13 is a system diagram of the collaboration system of theinvention.

FIG. 14 is a system diagram illustrating the QuickPlace server of thepreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating processes executed by the QuickPlaceserver of FIG. 14 for executing browser URL commands with respect to aQuickPlace database.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a method for publishing a file on the Web.

FIG. 17 illustrates a QuickPlace user room browser display.

FIGS. 18, 19 and 20 illustrate the presentation of room navigation.

FIG. 21 illustrates a graphics server.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram of the method for producing and caching webimages.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating the insertion of graphic material intoa text document.

FIG. 24 is a flow diagram of the method for publishing and caching adocument image with graphics.

FIGS. 25 and 26 are a flow diagram of the method for serving an imagefrom cache or construction.

FIG. 27 illustrates a QuickPlace.

FIG. 28 illustrates the creation of a subroom.

FIG. 29 illustrates the user interface to a QuickPlace room.

FIG. 30 illustrates a gallery resource.

FIG. 31 illustrates a method for selecting or tweaking a roomdecoration.

FIG. 32 illustrates a method for serving room decoration settings.

FIG. 33 is a system diagram illustrating in context the architecturalcomponents supporting the replication function.

FIG. 34 illustrates the generation of a document and items from formsand fields.

FIG. 35 illustrates the generation of a server prepared document.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, acollaboration system or teamware server platform is provided which ispowered by the Lotus Domino system and uses a standard Web browser. Aproduct implementation of this embodiment is referred to asQuickPlace(™). This browser-based product provides a system environmentfor collaboration in the virtual world of the Internet characterized byrich text editing and drag-and-drop uploading, server-side graphicsrendering, scene-based templates (or, wizards) for performingadministrative tasks, and hierarchical security.

In accordance with the invention, a server system is provided whichenables users to create space on a network that is easy to create,making them productive right away. All that is required to create thatspace is a name, a place name, and a password for access. The QuickPlaceapproach is to give a sense of space where information can be enteredand posted, where people go to collect thoughts and collaborate, and toprovide a place or space characterized by ease of creation andmaintenance. The QuickPlace approach provides a place for each project.

Exemplary Server/Client System

By way of background, FIG. 4 illustrates the system architecture for anexemplary server 105 or client computer 101, such as an IBM THINKPAD701® computer or like computer, on which a network access system can beimplemented. The exemplary computer system of FIG. 4 is discussed onlyfor descriptive purposes, however, and should not be considered alimitation of the invention. Although the description below may refer toterms commonly used in describing particular computer systems, thedescribed concepts apply equally to other computer systems, includingsystems having architectures that are dissimilar to that shown in FIG.4.

The server 105 or client 101 computer includes a central processing unit(CPU) 116, which may include a conventional microprocessor, randomaccess memory (RAM) 117 for temporary storage of information, and readonly memory (ROM) 118 for permanent storage of information. A memorycontroller 113 is provided for controlling system RAM 117. A buscontroller 114 is provided for controlling bus 111, and an interruptcontroller 115 is used for receiving and processing various interruptsignals from the other system components.

A diskette, CD-ROM, or hard disk may provide mass storage. Data andsoftware may be exchanged between client 101 and server 105 viaremovable media, such as a diskette or CD-ROM. A diskette is insertedinto diskette drive 123, which is connected to bus 111 by controller122. Similarly, a CD-ROM can be inserted into CD-ROM drive 125, which isconnected to bus 111 by controller 124. A CD-ROM can also have digitalversatile disc (DVD) playback capabilities as well. Finally, the harddisk is part of a fixed disk drive 127, which is connected to bus 111 bycontroller 126.

User input to the server computer 105 may be provided by a number ofdevices. For example, a keyboard and a mouse may be connected to bus 111by keyboard and mouse controller 120. An audio transducer, which may actas both a microphone and a speaker, is connected to bus 111 by audiocontroller 112. It should be apparent to those reasonably skilled in theart that other input devices, such as a pen and/or tablet and amicrophone for voice input, may be connected to server computer 105through bus 111 and an appropriate controller. DMA controller 119 isprovided for performing direct memory access to system RAM 117. A visualdisplay is generated by a video controller 121, which controls videodisplay 129.

Server computer 105 also includes a network adapter 128 that allows theserver computer 105 to be interconnected to a network 110. The network110, which may be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN),or the Internet, may utilize general-purpose communication lines thatinterconnect a plurality of network devices.

The Web server 105 answers URL (Universal Resource Locator) requests bysending back pages of data encoded in HyperText Markup Language (HTML).It also handles URL requests and HTML forms that trigger executableprograms according to the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) specification.The Web server 105 includes code that manages both inbound and outboundHTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) communications. In these respects,the Web server 105 performs like any other HTTP server, responding inthe standard way to standard URL requests. The preferred embodiment willbe discussed primarily in terms of a Lotus Domino web server 105although the system and method of the present invention may beimplemented in any web server.

By way of further background, as can be seen in its most basic form inFIG. 2, web server/client system 130 and Notes network 131 include aDomino web server 132 having many tasks running on it simultaneously.Among the server tasks are the Domino database server tasks 137, i.e.,serving up documents from Domino databases 142, and the HTTP servertasks 134, i.e., serving up documents having formats such as HTML, GIF,JPEG, XML, DHTML, BMP, MPEG, WAV, Java applets, and other file formatsknown to those skilled in the art from file system 139 via commongateway interface (CGI) server 133.

Notes software, available from Lotus Development Corporation, works withDomino to provide a distributed client/server database application tolet users organize, process, track, and use information to suit theirindividual needs. Notes/Domino consolidate the tools needed toeffectively communicate and collaborate in an organization by providing,inter alia, email, group discussion, workflow, scheduling, documentmanagement and many other functions. Domino databases are built on threebasic concepts: documents, views and forms. Documents are collections ofdata items which can be retrieved as a set. Views are the ways ofaccessing the indices or summaries of documents stored in a databasewhile forms are templates for accessing and displaying documents.

When a Notes client 141 requests access to a Domino database 142 via theNotes network 140, the Domino database server task 137 provides access.When a web client 101 requests an HTML document, the HTTP server task134 provides it. When a web client 101 requests a Notes document, theHTTP server task 134 passes the request through to the Domino databaseserver task 137. If access is granted, the Domino database server 137retrieves the requested document and passes it to an HTML converter 136which converts the Notes views, documents, and forms from Notes formatto HTML format, then delivers the resulting HTML pages to the HTTPserver 134 for serving to the web client. If a web client submits a formor query, the HTTP server task 134 passes the form to the HTML Converter136 which converts the form to Notes format and passes it to the Dominodatabase server 137 for appropriate processing.

Heretofore, to set up a web site, connection 109 between HTTP server 134and network 100 is disconnected while an HTML programmer 138 modifiesfile system 139. In accordance with the present invention, such adisconnection is not necessary.

Referring further to FIG. 2, in operation, HTTP server 134 takes URLsfrom a client 101, and looks to file system 139 to get the URL to serveto client 101. Domino database 142 provides Notes functionality(workflow, security, etc.) to a web server 132. A web server includesHTTP server 132 and file system 139, CGI server 133 which provides aparallel path HTTP server 134 to file system 139.

QuickPlace objects are implemented on top of Notes.

Notes server 137 provides an interface for enabling an owner to provideNotes functions to web servers/clients. Server 137 enables a user to useNotes functions via a web client browser 101 on the Internet 100. Thisit does by providing in HTTP server 134 an HTTP to Notes converter 135.Thus, a command or URL from web client 101 in HTTP protocol (get,getnext, openform, getmail, etc.) is parsed as a Notes command inconverter 136 and sent to data base server 137. Buried in the URL is theNotes command that is parsed out.

To access E-mail, the command to do so is included in the URL command,this is parsed out and sent out to database server 137, which accessesdatabase 142. HTML converter 136 converts nsf (notes store facility) toHTML format, which it then provides to HTTP server 206, to be served toweb client 101.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a QuickPlaceserver is a modified Dominos server 132. QuickPlace is a virtual serveron the same machine as, for example, many other domino and/or QuickPlaceservers.

Referring further to FIG. 2, QuickPlace is a smart master (also referredto as a wizard), a template for creating a web site which doesn'trequire an HTML programmer 138 to set it up. Previously, a programmer138 would have to program into the file system 139 the code needed toset up the web server Internet site with the web server disconnected at109 from the web site. In accordance with the present invention, webclient 101 or notes client 141 can design site without bringing down theweb connection 109. This is done by starting with a default web site andbuild from there. The default is built upon by using point/click, colorselection, room creation rooms, file drag and drop files, input filesdirectly to site, control access to site (manager, author, reader), andso forth.

Web Server Cache

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a web server system having a caching systemuseful in connection with the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, and is an example of a domino server without QuickPlaceshown. As will be described more fully hereafter, QuickPlace allows auser at browser 101 to use a default website and from that as a managerto set security, pop up a window, add reader/author, distributenotifications and passwords to control access, create a room which givesoptions for customizing color scheme, control access to the room, createsub room down as many layers down, with each subroom selectivelyinheriting characteristics of a previous room, and changing thesecharacteristics.

As shown in FIG. 3, the web server 132 may be connected to a number ofDomino sources 142. However, the sources may comprise any number ofdifferent types of elements, other than Domino databases: otherdatabases, files, other web sites, etc, but Domino sources are shown forclarity. The web server may also be connected to HTML databases 139 aswas discussed above. The web server 132 comprises and is associated withmany functional units. It comprises the HTTP server 134, discussedabove, which comprises a TCP/IP application 157, and a HyperTextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) unit 156. The web server 132 further comprisesthe HTML converter unit 136 discussed above. It further comprises aparser 145 (for parsing received URLs), a cache 143, cache control unit144, and operates in cooperation with a cached-response analyzer 146,and a database server 137, including a response builder 154, a sourceaccess unit 155, and a cacheability analyzer 149.

These units operate as follows: TCP/IP unit 157 and HTTP unit 156 acttogether as the interface to the Internet by implementing the TCP/IP andHTTP protocols for server 132. TCP/IP unit 157 utilizes the TCP/IPprotocol for conveying and receiving information to and from theInternet. HTTP unit 156 implements HTTP, which is the standard on whichthe Web operates. These two units provide the full-service interface tothe Web.

When server 132 receives a URL from a client, the HTTP server 134 passesthe URL to the URL Parser 145, which breaks the URL into differentparts. The parsed URL is passed to the cache control unit 144. With aDomino server, within the URL that is received from the requesting useris a Domino/Notes-specific command, which indicates what action is beingrequested. The following are examples of server specific commands withinthe URL that may be received by the Domino server:

?OpenDatabase—command for opening a database;

?OpenView—command for opening a view;

?OpenDocument—command for opening a document;

?OpenForm—command for opening a form;

?ReadForm—command for reading a form; and

?EditDocument—command for editing a document. While, in this example,each of these commands has a “?” in front of the command as syntax thatthe server can use to identify the string as a command, the server canidentify other syntaxes as well. These commands require a response to besent to the requesting user. The requested response may have alreadybeen cached and it may be valid and applicable. For those URLs havingcommands requesting a possibly-cached response (i.e., ?OpenDatabase,?OpenView, ?OpenDocument, ?OpenForm, and ?ReadForm), the cache control144 examines the request against previously cached responses todetermine whether any of the previously cached responses is appropriatefor the request. This is done by comparing the parsed URL against theURLs of the previously cached responses in the cache 143. If there isnot an exact match or if the URL doesn't have “cacheable” commands(e.g., ?EditDocument), the parsed URL is passed to the response builder154. The response builder 154 uses the parsed URL to build the responseby accessing the appropriate sources (via source access unit 155) andretrieving the appropriate “parts” to construct the response. The partsretrieved by the response builder 154 may comprise many different types,including data, forms, subforms, database design elements, calculations,etc. In other words, there is no theoretical restriction as to the typeof parts comprising a web page response. These parts each have their ownattributes. For instance, some parts may or may not have last modifieddates associated with the part. The attributes of all of the parts usedto build the response are collected and analyzed by attribute analyzer153. The attribute analyzer 153 builds a “composite” of the attributes,the attribute composite being representative of the entire response.

Once the web page response is built by the response builder 154, it ispassed to the HTML unit 136 for conversion to HTML. This HTML responseis then passed to the HTTP server 134 for serving to the requestinguser. At the same time, the attribute analyzer 153 passes the compositeof the parts' attributes to the cacheability analyzer 149 fordetermining the cacheability of the built response. The cacheabilityanalyzer 149 examines the attribute composite and, if it determines thatthe response cannot be cached, the response is not cached. If itdetermines that the response can be cached, it provides an indication tothe cache control unit 144, along with the response and an associatedset of cache strategy indicators generated by the cacheability analyzer149. These indicators are used by the cached-response analyzer asdiscussed below. The cacheability analyzer 149 comprises a cacheabilityanalyzer interface 150 and a caching strategy generator 151. Thecacheability analyzer interface 150 acts as an interface for thecacheability analyzer 149 while the caching strategy generator 151examines the attribute composite and creates a caching strategy.

If the cache control unit 144 determines that there is an exact matchbetween the parsed URL of the user request and the URLs corresponding toone of the cached responses in the cache 143, the candidate cachedresponse along with its associated cache strategy indicators is passedto the cached response analyzer 146. The response analyzer 146 performstwo series of tests. The first series of tests are response-specific andthe second series of tests are request-specific. The response-specifictests are performed by the validity analyzer portion 148 while therequest-specific tests are performed by the applicability analyzerportion 147. If the candidate cached response and its associatedattributes pass the two tests, the candidate cached response is simplyserved up to the user at browser 101 via the HTTP server 134.

Co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/237,135, filed Jan. 25, 1999,provides additional detail with respect to operation of servers 132, 137and related components.

Collaboration Space Server

Referring to FIG. 5, the Domino structure 132 is enhanced withQuickPlace extensions 160 to provide a Notes/web interface for providingcollaboration. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a full blownDomino server is installed, including web server 134 and Notes server137, and then the QuickPlace module 160 is installed as an overlay.

Referring to FIG. 9, in another preferred embodiment a QuickPlace server163 includes web server 132, domino web interface 134, a QuickPlacemodule 160, and a notes server, providing a product to which web browser101 and Notes clients can connect. Objects within QuickPlace module 160include a place with rooms, rooms having folders (optional) and pages;and a place has members. When a place is created, one room is created inwhich pages can be created. A place is created from a placetype, whichis a template that specifies the number of rooms, members, security forrooms, look and feel, and forms and folders in each room. A place typewas once a place, which is saved as a template from which new places canbe created. A place is a directory which is created from a template byentering place name, person name and desired pass word. The directory iscreated in file system 139, with one database for each room. Thus, aroom is a QuickPlace object that maps to a Domino database. The mannerin which this mapping occurs will be described hereafter in connectionwith FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 14, a system architecture view of the QuickPlaceserver 137 is presented in the context of a system including a webbrowser 101 and Domino server 132. Domino server 132 includes HTTPserver 134, URL processor 188, and Domino engine 189. QuickPlace server137 includes URL processor 164, open document handler 165, edit documenthandler 166, open form handler 167, form/scene loader 168, commandhandler 169, formula handler 178 and HTML generator 179.

URL requests are received by Domino 132 from browser 101, and are of thefollowing syntax:

(1) http://server/dir/db/view|folder|form/doc?command&command arguments

Examples of URL requests are:

(2) http://QuickPlace/ACME/Main.nsf/PageUI?OpenForm

(3)http://QuickPlace/ACME/Main.nsf/Discussion/docID?EditDocument&Editscreen=“”

A URL request received from browser 101 is fed by HTTP server 134 to URLprocessor 188, which examines the URL to determine if QuickPlace isspecified as the server. If not, the URL is passed to the domino enginefor process. If QuickPlace is specified, the URL is passed to QuickPlaceserver 137 where it is received by URL processor 164.

URL processor 164 examines the URL from the browser, received via Dominoserver 132, to determine the command, and depending upon that commandpasses processing to open document handler 165, edit document handler166, or open form handler 167. In resolving these commands, handlers165-167 reference a library of Domino and QuickPlace classes, includingthe following:

Domino Classes:

NDatabase

NView

NNote

NDocNote

NFolder

NForm

. . .

QuickPlace Classes:

HuUiDoc

HuForm

HuView

HuDocNote

. . .

Responsive to an open document command in a URL including QuickPlace inthe URL prefix, open document handler 165 instantiates a database classusing the Domino and QuickPlace classes, which involves opening thedatabase containing the document, the view containing the document, andthe document itself. This involves a call to form/scene loader 168,which determines and loads the proper form and the scene. A formdescribes the document items of interest to a particular request, andthe layout of the page for that request, as specified by the URL fromthe user browser 101. In the process of loading the form and scene,loader 168 may determine that there is a formula; and if so, it ispassed to formula handler 178 for processing. HTML generator 179,responsive to loader 168 and, if a formula is included, to formulahandler 178 to generate the HTML and send it to the user browser 101 viaDomino 132.

Responsive to an open form command in a URL including QuickPlace in theURL prefix, open form handler 167 is called by URL processor 164 tocreate a new document in the database specified by the URL, inside theview or folder specified in the URL. Open form handler 167 callsform/scene loader 168, which loads the appropriate form and scene. Thismay require a call to formula handler 178 to resolve any formulas in theform, and HTML generator 179 takes the information provided byform/scene loader 168 and, possibly, formula handler 178, and passesback to Domino 132 the HTML for display at web browser 101. If there areany commands to be executed as a result of creating a document, openform handler invokes command handler 169 to execute the command. Thesecommands includes create, delete or edit room, user, or folder; or thepublishing commands make draft, make draft from published, publish, saveunder construction, revert, and discard. The make draft command isinvoked to create a document. The publish command publishes the draftwhich then becomes published (a document in which a published field getsset to on). To change a published document, the user issues a URLincluding the edit document command. QuickPlace server 137 creates adraft document from the published version. The user can change the draftdocument, and then issue a command which either reverts the draftdocument back to the published version, save the draft as a documentunder construction, or discard the draft.

Thus, in overview, the open form handler 167 operates according to thefollowing procedure.

Browser 101 issues a URL containing the open form command, somethinglike the following:

URL:/QuickPlace/ACME/Main.nsf/PageUI?OpenForm

Domino sees that the server specified in the URL is QuickPlace, andpasses the URL to QuickPlace 137.

URL processor 164 parses the URL and determines that it is an OpenFormcommand, and passes it to open form handler 167 for processing.

Open form handler 167 determines that the command is for the ACME place,for its top room Main.nsf, and using the pageUI form.

With that information, open form handler 167 creates a draft document bycalling the make draft publishing command. (When a room is created,first a draft is created, which is then published, and then the createroom command is executed.)

So, open form handler 167 has first created a draft.

With that it calls form/scene loader 168 with the given form and scenefor the draft document, which it loads in memory. As part of loading thedraft document, formulas may be computed in formula handler 178—and thismay involve the selection of default values. Once the draft document isloaded in memory with the given load and scene, form/scene loader callsHTML generator to generate the HTML to be sent to browser 101 via Domino132, and the document with its fields is presented to the user.

Responsive to an edit document command in a URL including QuickPlace inthe URL prefix, edit document handler 166 executes the procedure to bedescribed with reference to FIG. 15. This command is similar to opendocument, except in the case of edit document the document alreadyexists in database 230 for the QuickPlace specified in the URL frombrowser 101. In this case, suppose the URL is of the following form:

url:/quickplace/acme/main.nsf/discussion/docid?editdocument&editscene

where acme is the directory, main.nsf is the database, discussion is thefolder, docid is the document, editdocument is the command to beexecuted, and editscene is the first of a list of command arguments—alist of arguments, each argument separated by the & delimiter. Executionof this command will result in opening given document docid, which islocated in acme place, top level room main.nsf discussion folder. To doso, edit document handler 166 uses the Domino and QuickPlace classes toopen folder discussion and document docid, and calls form/scene loader168 to load appropriate form and scene from haikucommonforms database236 (forms is older terminology for scenes).

A scene controls the layout and defines the data to be captured fromuser, such as type of QP to be created. A scene also specifies theactions or choices to be presented to the user, such as next or back.Next brings up another scene, and a series of scenes can be used, forexample, to change the type of a QP place (place type). Thus, scenes arelike steps, each scene is represented by a screen for display at browser101, and the user can move back and forth. This will be described, forthe case of the edit document command, with reference to FIG. 15, whichillustrates the edit cycle executed under control of edit documenthandler 166.

Referring to FIG. 15, in connection with FIG. 14 and the URL commandissued from web browser 101 by the user of:

url:/quickplace/acme/main.nsf/discussion/docid?editdocument&editscene

who desires to edit the document docid in database 230. The processinvolves the creation and use of scenes 224, 226, 227 and 228. Scene 224has been created previously in response to an open document command frombrowser 101, as explained above, which caused form/scene loader 168 togo to QP database 230 to retrieve document 223 from which scene 224 wasderived and displayed as a screen at browser 101. Scene 224 gave theuser the opportunity to select NEW, resulting in an open form URLrequest being sent by browser 101 to server 137, which resulted in openform handler 167 creating a folder document 225 in memory and informs/scene loader selecting and returning to browser 101 display scene226. Scene 226 gives the user the opportunity to select an edit command,and the above URL1 resulted from that selection.

Recapitulating, open form created document 223, selected the scene A224, generated corresponding HTMLl and sent it to browser 101. Nowbrowser 101 displays document 223 (which is created at the browser byscene 224), and by the user selecting NEW, open form is issued to theserver, which will open form and return scene B 226. User is now in theedit cycle, in the process of supplying information to the server 137through the scenes 226 and 227 in order to created the document 225—itis a multi-step process. It is a cycle because it a has a beginning andan end, and is edit because document 225 is being modified.

Thus, with browser 101 displaying scene B 226, the user is given severalchoices to perform actions (all scenes have actions, represented bybuttons, menu choices, or the like) and, in this case, NEXT is an actionoption. When NEXT is selected, an edit document request URL, givenabove, is sent from browser 101 (because, in this example, NEXT refersto a previously created document). In response, edit document handler166 opens document 225, form/scene loader selects scene C 227, HTMLgenerator 179 generates html and sends it back to the browser 101 andscene 227 is there displayed.

Now browser is displaying scene C 227. The user enters information, suchas name of document, text, etc. Scene C 227 presents to the user, forexample, the actions of: publish, publish as, save, and cancel. Assumingthe user selects publish, a scene is displayed asking for moreinformation, such as where to put page, or the name of the room beingcreated.

Handlers 165, 166, and 167 having now been described, and publishingmethods, commands will be further explained. Commands get invoked forcreating, deleting or changing QuickPlace objects. These commandsinclude, as enumerated above, create, delete, update place, room, useror folder. Other commands include providing for changing security in aroom.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 15, one cycle of command invocation,for create folder, is as follows:

user clicks on new when browser 101 is in scene A 224

new issues open form to bring scene B 226 to browser 101

user chooses create folder

user select next

QuickPlace 137 creates an empty folder document 225

server 137 returns scene C 227 to browser 101

which lets user choose the kind of folder to be created (various optionsare presented)

user selects folder type=standard list, and clicks on next

browser sends choice to folder type=standard list as a command argument,to be stored in a field in new document 225

server 137 sends back a next scene (not shown), asking for name offolder

user enters “draft letter” for name of folder

user select next to submit changes,

another scene is returned asking where

user answers, and selects next

animation is displayed at browser 101, and as browser is in transitionfrom this last scene, a create folder command 229 is executed to createand store in database 230 the actual folder object, that usescharacteristics specified in new document 225.

Alternatively, the user could have selected other options which wouldresult in execution of other commands 229, such as create user, and soforth.

Room Security

Referring to FIG. 10, QuickPlace rooms 201-204 and 210 are connected byforward and backward pointers 205-209 and 211, and these enable thesecurity of each room to be independently managed. Each room has its ownsecurity; that is, the identity of each user allowed to enter the roomand that users security level: the three levels being reader, author,manager. This is held in an access control list which is a part of eachroom. While an individual, say Steve, has reader access (R) to thelibrary 204, he can have author (A) access to a subroom 211. Thisenables a subroom 211 to have increased/maintained, or decreased accessauthority for a particular individual with respect to its parent room204. Only individuals with access to a parent 204 can access a subroom210, but that subroom 210 can have changed access for the subroom 210for these individuals. Previously, security could not be increased insubrooms 210 with respect to a parent room 204.

A database access control list (ACL) specifies who can or cannot accessthe database. For users who can access a database, access levels androles determine the specific actions they can perform—for example,creating or deleting documents. Document access fields (Readers andAuthors fields), in conjunction with the database ACL, control who canread or modify specific documents. Thus, to limit access to specificdocuments created from a form, a readers field is included. A readersfield explicitly lists the users who can read documents created from theform. If a form has an access list, names from the readers field areadded to the form access list. Otherwise, the readers field controlsaccess to documents created from the form. Entries in a readers fieldcannot give a user more access than what is specified in the databaseaccess control list (ACL); they can only further restrict access. Anauthors field works in conjunction with author access in the databaseACL. Listing users in an authors field expands access rights by allowinglisted users to edit documents they create. Entries in an authors fieldcannot override the database access control list; they can only refineit. Authors fields affect only users who have author access to thedatabase.

Referring to FIG. 11, forward pointers 205, 209 are secure. Security, inthis context provides that forward pointer 205 to project A 203 carriesthe same security as that of project A 203, and anyone viewing main room201 who is not entitled to access project A 203 will not see room 203listed in parent room. QuickPlace does not show a user things or objectsto which the user does not have access. In past, such objects wereshown, but were greyed out or otherwise managed so that user access wasinhibited. Forward pointers, therefore, include room name field 212,address to database name field 213, and readers field 214, whichincludes a table of user identifiers 215 for each user permitted toaccess the room, with corresponding access authority 216 for each suchuser, which may be manager, author, or reader.

Room Modification from Browser

Referring to FIG. 12 if a user client 101 wants to modify the QuickPlacedatabase 142 file 221, then QP server 163 creates a new qpfile′ 222 forclient 101 to change without bothering user client 102 who may still beaccessing the qpfile 221. Once done, qpfile′ 222 replaces qpfile 221.

Referring to FIG. 13, a qpfilex 235 resides in database 142. A browseron client computer 101 accesses a file system 232 on the PC which is areplica 234 of qpfilex within a replica 233 of Domino web server 163 (orat least a portion of it) on it as well. In this manner, client 101 hasthe necessary function locally to do off line browsing, changing qpfilex235 with new data, new rooms, etc. to create qpfilex′ 234. When done,client 101 with network 100 access replicates file qpfilex′ 234 to themain site to replace qpfilex 235 with qpfilex′ 234.

Referring to FIG. 6, the QuickPlace system includes browser 101,QuickPlace databases 161 and QuickPlace templates 162. Mediating theconversation between the browser and the databases and templates is aDomino web server 132 with QuickPlace extensions 160. Templates 162contain HTML and Java Script and controls and page generation language.Databases 161 stores common resources, sign elements, and clientcomponents including rich text aesthetic control, and applet controlwhich enables server and client desktop integration and offline control.With respect to offline control, with a QuickPlace created on a server,the offline feature allows replication, or installation of that place ona user's local computer, the purpose of which is to allow the user towork disconnected. Sometimes, disconnected work will be faster thanaccessing the server, depending on the network bandwidth.

Object Model

Referring to FIG. 7, the QuickPlace object model 170 is described,together with the Domino equivalent 180. Place 171 consists of rooms172. A room 172 is made up of pages 174. Folders 173 are used toorganize pages. Members 175 belong to rooms, and are those usersauthorized to access them. Place type 176 controls the creation of aplace, including how many rooms it has, for example. Room type 177controls the appearance and content of rooms. This simple object modelis implemented using equivalent Domino objects 180. A place 171 is theQuickPlace site, organizes pages in rooms and folders; it is a simplefile directory 181 containing rooms 172. A folder is an organizingstructure for collecting and displaying related pages in a site. Eachroom 172 is a database 182, a collection of pages with discrete securityand authentication. This enables access control properties to be carriedfrom the database 182 over to the room 172, enabling places 171 on adatabase to grow. QuickPlace folders 173 are implemented as folders 183,and sometimes as views in the background for collecting documents andfor saving a stored query. A QuickPlace page 174 may be interpreted as adata note 184, the combination of a data note, a form, and one or moresubforms, and is also referred to as a document. Subforms control theway that the page is viewed and the user interface. A form manages thedisplay of data notes. A form can contain fields for containing data andemploy scripts to process and compute data. A page is the basic vehiclefor content. Content is created using the QuickPlace editor or importingcontent from an external source. A member 175 is also a data note, andeach place contains its own member directory. A member note containsinformation about a tem member of a QuickPlace. In addition to thisdata, the member must be listed in the ACL of main.nsf and names.nsf topass authentication. Place type 176 and room type 177 are implemented asNotes templates 186, 187, respectively. A place type 176 provides thestructure and design for the resulting place. A room type 187 providesthe structure and design for the resulting room.

A database 182 is a container for data, logic, and design elements in anapplication. Design elements are building blocks used to create anapplication, and include pages, forms, outlines, navigators, views,folders, framesets, shared resources and agents. Domino databases havethe file extension .nsf.

A folder 183 is a container used to store related pages (documents) orgroupings of pages (documents). Herein, pages and documents sometimesused as equivalent, and in other contexts a document is created by aserver from a page submitted from a browser. Folders have the samedesign elements as views, and are created in much the same way as views,using the Create-Design-Folder command. The difference between foldersand views is that views always have a document selection formula thatcollects and displays documents automatically. A folder remains emptyuntil users or programs add documents to the folder.

A form, like a page, displays information, but unlike a page is alsoused to collect information. A form provides the structure for creatingand displaying documents, and documents are the design element thatstore data in a database. When a user fills out the information in aform and saves it, the information is saved in a document. When a useropens the document, the document uses the form as a template to providethe structure for displaying the data.

A template is a file that contains the structure for a database—that is,pages, forms, and views—but does not contain documents. It is a skeletonthat contains design elements, but no documents. Documents have .ntf astheir file extension.

Place Creation and Modification

Referring to FIG. 8, a place 191 is created. A place type 190 in itsbasic form is two databases, one that describes the room type 192, inthis case, a meeting room; and the other that describes the memberdirectory 194 for that place. A place 191 is created by copying bothtemplates 192, 194 into a database. The top level room 193 of everyplace is called Main.nsf for ease of access and contact.nsf is themember directory for that given place.

A QuickPlace is created by creating two databases from databasetemplates. The Main.nsf is created from a MeetingRoom.ntf template, andis the parent database in a QuickPlace—all other databases in aQuickPlace are children of Main.nsf. Contacts.nsf is created from theContacts.ntf template.

A room is created from a default room type template, PageLibrary.ntf,which provides indexing infrastructure for maintaining the pages in aroom, and also security and authentication features so that access to aroom can be limited to a subset of team members. The database createdfrom the PageLibrary template is assigned a unique name by the system toallow for multiple rooms within a QuickPlace.

When a QuickPlace server is installed on a computer, a QuickPlacedirectory is created under the domino server data directory. ThisQuickPlace directory includes several objects of interest including anError types subdirectory and a page library subroom with unique name.Names for these objects are created to be unique because of the offlinefeature. Many users could be creating rooms, not on the server, on theirown computers. And when these replicate off of the server, they couldcollide by name unless some uniqueness is guaranteed.

Server Extensions

Referring again to FIG. 6, eight QuickPlace extensions 160 areenhancements made to the Domino web server 132 in order to support aQuickPlace application. These extensions 160 are enabled only forQuickPlace URLS; that is, they are enabled for URLs that are targetedagainst a particular QuickPlace. These extensions are: (1) shared designelements, (2) database linkage, (3) commands, (4) publish and draftmodel, (5) security and authentication, (6) forms and fields, (7)decoration model), and (8) graphics server.

(1) Shared design elements are shared forms stored in a common template.These elements are provided to deal with the situation where databasesare created with duplicate forms and subforms. To avoid having all ofmany forms would be duplicated with every room, they are gatheredtogether in a common template, referred to as a head group common forms.As a result, databases are smaller since they don't have all theseassigned elements. And because they're smaller, they can be retrievedand served faster and enable efficient server site caching.

(2) Database linkage enables the grouping of a number of databases in ahierarchical way. A place is a collection of databases, and these needto be represented in a parent child relationship. Data notes representthe hierarchy to the database. There is a data note in the parentdatabase, and there is a data note in the child database. The use ofdata notes for these QuickPlace extensions as a way of representingtheir functionality has the benefit that there are many ways ofmanipulating them, whether it's with Java or forms or the Notesdesigner.

(3) Commands are representations of the methods that operate onQuickPlace objects 170. They can create, modify and destroy them.Examples are create place, create room, create user, modify user, and soforth. When a user interacts with a user interface (browser), he submita form to the server. When a form is submitted, the server detects anamed command item in that form, extracts from the form any additionalarguments, and then performs the command, such as, for example, create auser in the particular member directory. In this way, QuickPlacefunctionality is encapsulated into a well-defined set of commands.

QuickPlace commands are set forth in Table 1, and the fields ofQuickPlace objects are set forth in Table 2.

(4) The Publish and draft model extension allows management of twoversions of a page: published and draft. Each time a copy of a publishedpage is to be edited, a draft copy is made and used. A link between thedraft and the published versions is achieved by having the draft pointto the published copy and the published copy point to the draft. When adraft copy is made, an author field is provided in the published copy toprevent other people from editing what is currently undergoing revision.The reader field in the draft copy is dropped, thus preventing othersfrom seeing the draft copy revisions before it is published. When thedraft is ready to be published, the information from the draft is put itover into the publish copy and the draft discarded. The benefits of thisextension is a user may enjoy private revision of pages at his site, hisplaces, independent without being visited by other users. While a useris working on a private copy of a page, the public, or published,version is made available to anybody that visits. This is also the basisfor check out functionality, by which a user working on a document hasit checked out, preventing others from working on it. This is also thebasis for work flow: as page drafts move between reviewers, the readersand authors fields on the draft are manipulated to selectively enableand inhibit access or modification. Once a draft page is approved, thenit becomes published.

(5) The security and authentication QuickPlace extension is consistentwith the QuickPlace model, which provides three levels of security orroles: reader, author, and manager. There exists a member directory foreach place. What this means is that each place has its own set ofmembers that visit it. The Domino server is modified to perform localauthentication against that directory, making places very portable,self-contained. And they don't collide with other members in otherplaces. A user, having control of his own place member directory, sethis own security for access to that directory.

(6) The forms and fields QuickPlace extensions control the content andformatting of pages. They're very fundamental. They're also implementedas data notes, and because they're data notes, they allow for easycustomization.

(7) The decoration model extension allows user control over thecustomization of rooms and places. Place and room properties andaesthetics including look and feel are stored in notes, main.nsf. Also,there is a shared graphics resource database that controls all thegraphics that are shared by all of the rooms. As a consequence datanotes and databases are easily extended and customizable.

(8) The graphic service extension transforms text, font, and effectsinto an image through server side rendering. This us URL driven, andallows rich text formatting independent of browser capabilities. Thatis, regardless of the capabilities of the client, because text, font andeffects are rendered at the server, universally acceptable jiff may beserved. This is done through the command Get Image, which includesarguments specifying the text that to be transformed, and the desiredcolors, font name, sizes, and animation (that is, undulation), shadowcolor, and so forth.

File Upload by Drag and Drop

Referring to FIG. 16, the method of the invention for dragging anddropping files is shown. Responsive to a user dragging and dropping oneor more files, a client or a server is operable for converting the filesto HTML, detecting support files by parsing the HTML, uploading all ofthe files to a web server, and modifying the HTML files to display thecontent of the files in a web context, thereby enabling the author orother users to modify the original files. This process is accomplishedwithout having to open file, and requires no manual conversion to HTML.User is in a desired, familiar place, site, or context where he doesn'tneed to figure out file names. We provide speed, ease of use. Draggingand dropping a non HTML file into a browser which is presented to usersas HTML and presented to others for editing as non-HTML is fundamentallyeasier than a process requiring the two steps of the user of opening afile application and saving the file as HTML. Also, with QuickPlace, theuser drags the document to be copied into the spot in the site where itis to be rendered. In other systems, a user has to deal with directoriesand file trees which may not be so intuitive for the user as to wherethe document should go.

In accordance with the invention uploading/downloading drag/drop of MSWord documents, Excel documents, and Power Point presentations, and thelike, is accomplished in a way that the data is simultaneously presentedas HTML to users yet preserved in its original file format for futureediting through a web browser. A file is taken by a browser and draggedinto an area on a form; readers will see an HTML version of that fileyet the author, when editing, will still have word file to edit. Authorsees the file in its original syntax, every else sees it as HTML, andthis through a browser. In Power Point, the user is provided aninterface allowing HTML reader to cycle through the pages (of a slideshow). To do this, HTML and HTML control for toggling are generated.Both the file and its navigation controls are converted to HTML. Inaddition, all references to images are found, converted and uploadedautomatically. To show a document including a picture to others on theweb, text is converted to HTML, and the image is converted into a .giffile. Both files are then uploaded to the server, which makes sure thatthe HTML that URL references the image points to the correct place inthe new storage location at the server. The user performs the steps ofcreating the page, dragging and dropping the page, and publishing it.The system (client and server) automatically performs the remainingsteps.

Referring to FIG. 16, in step 241 the user creates the files and in step242 opens QuickPlace in a browser. In step 243 the user creates a pagein QuickPlace (either new or imported) and in step 244 drags and dropsthe file or uses the file-open-dialog command to select the file. Thisends the user interaction, and the system takes over. In step 245 thesystem converts the file to HTML if required, and in step 246 parses theHTML to find, in step 247, if any images or other support files arepresent. In step 248 the HTML is modified for web context, and in step249 the original and converted files are uploaded to the server. Theuser may, in step 250, select publish to choose the location (room)within QuickPlace for publishing the file.

Room Navigation

Referring to FIG. 17, a QuickPlace user room display includes side bar263, page 261, and action bar 262. To visually indicate movement of page261 from room to room, the material in side bar 264 slides in thedirection of right arrow 264 to enter a room or left arrow 265 to leaveit. Referring to FIGS. 18, 19 and 20, material 266 enters side bar fromthe left to show a new room display down the hierarchy is being enteredand displayed in page 261; and material 267 moves to the left to enterside bar 263 as material 266 moves out to the left, indicating that thematerial in display 261 is changing to a room higher in the hierarchy,that is that display 261 is leaving a room. In this manner, the displayprojects to the user where he is at any particular time. To show leavinga room, the visual effect is to have the side bar move to the left whilethe side bar for the room being entered appears from the right.

Graphics and Aesthetics

Referring to FIG. 21, QuickPlace server 163 includes a graphics server350 connected to database 161.

Referring to FIG. 22, aesthetic support for a web site, such asQuickPlace, is provided as follows. In step 351, when a user selectsQuickPlace, he also selects a theme, which includes set of aestheticparameters for color, image, fonts type, and other effects. In step 352,the user creates documents which inherit the aesthetic parametersoriginally selected for this QuickPlace. If at some later time, the userchanges the QuickPlace aesthetic parameters, these are propagated to allsubsequently created documents. In step 353, the user enters text datafor this document, and in step 354 selects ‘save’. In response, in step355 graphics server 350 saves the parameters and text as an image, instep 356 stores the parameters for this image in database 161, andstores the image itself in cache 153 (FIG. 3). This is managed by thegraphics server 350. This process is particularly useful in an Internetenvironment, for people who access the QuickPlace can request via an URLparameter string a particular graphic which will be served to them bythe graphics server. A graphics server generated image request is usedby any user to make an image, and the graphics server responds bychecking the cache and if it is found there, serves a saved image fromthe cache, and if not, generates it anew.

Referring to FIG. 23, a series of panels 360-362 is illustrated showinghow a document is published so that it appears as an item 363 in sidebar 263 of a QuickPlace display 360. The user selects layout 369 andenters the title in work area 261. The QuickPlace program graphic server350 puts the title in side bar 263 as a graphic 363, to compliment theaesthetic parameters of the QuickPlace. The user then enters text andselects appearance parameters in work area 261, and these are alsogenerated as graphics which will be displayed in the read area 261 ofthe saved document.

Referring to FIG. 24, the process for generating a document includinginserted graphics is as follows. In step 370, the user is served adocument on edit screen 361. In step 371, with the cursor positioned atthe point 364 in edit screen 361 where the graphic is to be inserted,the user selects insert graphic text button 367. In step 373, insertgraphics screen 362 is presented to the user which includes a text area261, and buttons and drop down menus for selecting various parameters,including effect, animation, color, size, and so forth. In step 374,when the user selects done 365, edit screen 361 is presented with theimage appearing at the selected point 364. In step 375, the user selectspublish 368. In response, the editor, which has the URL of the insertgraphic text screen 361 that was used to generate the desired graphic,issues a request to graphic server 350 for that URL. The graphic server,in step 376 and responsive to request from the editor, either retrievesthe previously generated image of the requested URL, or generates thegraphic and serves it to the screen 360 in publish mode.

In steps 377 and 378, the image created is not saved in the document,but rather in the graphics server URL that generates the image. This isimportant: an image that is 1×2 inches may be 0.5 megabytes, and an URLis much less. Depending upon how often the image is used, it may besaved in the cache. Cache is managed by discarding images that areoldest, or some other cache management scheme, and if no longer in cachethe image can be regenerated from the parameters stored at the URL.

To write software that makes images, a user would need to know or haveaccess to C++, Java Script, or the like, and an understanding graphicfile formats, including an understanding of what a URL is and how theInternet handles a URL request. References: (1) R. Fielding, et al. HTTPWorking Group Internet-Draft, HYPERTEXT TRANSFER PROTOCOL—HTTP/1.1,<draft-ietf-HTTP-vll-spec-06>. (2) James D. Foley, et al. “ComputerGraphics: Principles and Practice”, Second Edition in C, Addison-WesleyPublishing Company, copyright 1996, 1990, ISBN 0-201-84840-6. 1175pages.

Referring to FIG. 25 and FIG. 26, graphics server 350 functions asfollows. In step 380, the server receives the URL of a graphic request,such as from step 375 (FIG. 24). In step 381, the URL string is hashedto obtain a hash number that, in step 382, is used to look for an imagein cache with a matching hash number. If, in step 383, that matchingimage is found, in step 384 the image is served in response to therequest. However, if that matching image is not found, the image must beregenerated. In step 385, the URL from the request is parsed to obtainthe graphic parameters which, in step 386, are used to construct thegraphic server objects, using default parameters for any necessaryparameters missing from the URL. Then, for each object constructed instep 386, in step 387 a background object is constructed, in step 388the font object is constructed, in step 389 the text graphics are made,in step 390 graphic effects from the URL are applied, and in step 391the background object is combined with the font, text, and effectobjects to create the final image. Graphic effects include blurring,shadowing, transparency, etc. If animation is to be applied, in step 392the number of frames required is determined, and in step 393 theanimation effects selected. These include fade in, fade out, fadein/out, undulation, and slide. Slide includes in, out, loop, up anddown. Undulation refers to transition between colors. For animation, agroup of still pictures are created in a display sequence. Text is madegraphic by creating an image of text and font objects with effectsapplied. Font objects are parameters that constitute selected fonteffects, including type, point size, color. A background object is thecanvas on which document is painted or created.

Online/Offline Updating of Web Site

Uninterrupted online and offline updating of a web site is provided byQuickPlace such that other clients are not interrupted when a client isoperating in draft mode. As was previously described with respect toFIGS. 14 and 15, a QuickPlace user may change a page by creating a draftcopy when in edit mode, work with the draft copy, and save it withoutdisturbing others who are using the original page. When finished, theuser client publishes the draft page, which then replaces the originalcopy. Others viewing the original copy continue to use that originalcopy until they refresh, at which time they are served the newlypublished page. Normal conflict resolution may be provided.

Referring to FIG. 27, a QuickPlace place, or object, includes one ormore rooms, shown here as main room 271, lounge 272, and subroom 273,arranged in a hierarchical structure. In accordance with the preferredembodiment of the invention, interactive modification by way of a clientbrowser of a such a site is allowed through the use of server sidecommands that respond to browser functions. These server side commandsare QuickPlace commands 160 that are built on top of Dominos 132 (FIG.6). For example, as will be more fully described hereafter, a createroom command exists in QuickPlace.

Referring to FIG. 28, the manager of lounge room 272 creates subroom273. To do so, the user selects the create room command as follows: hefirst selects ‘customize’ 276 in the side bar; this brings up anothersubmenu including rooms 277 which, when selected bring up still anothernew screen 278 which includes parameters for creating room. Once thoseparameters are selected, the user clicks ‘done’. In response, serverside processing occurs. First, server 132 creates a subroom, which isanother database 283, updates the forward pointer 282 to subroom 283from lounge room database 281, with the user as manager and as onlyuser. User may then goes into the display of subroom 273 to update theroom description characteristics, and optionally add other usersauthorized to do the same.

Inheritance of Aesthetics

Referring to FIG. 29, a QuickPlace manager of a room has flexibility indetermining the aesthetics of the user interface 260 of that room. Themanager, through the QuickPlace hierarchical inheritance feature, candecide that all subrooms of this room look a certain way. This is doneby first changing this room, then all subrooms thereafter created fromthis room will inherit its aesthetics, and those subrooms previouslycreated, but which have not had their aesthetics previously explicitlychanged, will also inherit those changes. Once a subroom is explicitlychanged, however, it no longer inherits changed aestheticcharacteristics of its parent.

QuickPlace offers a preset gallery of web presentation formats, fromwhich the manager of room can choose and then modify the one he chooses.A room 260 presentation includes a page, or work area, 261, an actionbar 262, a side bar 263, a path bar 268, and persistent links 269. Inaccordance with an aspect of the invention, a user may upload a userconfiguration specification by which the design and appearance of a roompresentation may be modified.

Referring to FIGS. 31 and 32, the processes for customizing roomdecoration and for decorating a room being entered are set forth.

For room decoration customization, in step 301, the user selects theaction customize decorate. He is presented with two options: in step 302to select a preset theme, or in step 303 to tweak (that is, modify) anexisting theme.

Referring to FIG. 31, if the user selects option 1, in step 304 theserver provides a list of themes stored in gallery resource database292. In step 305, the user selects the theme from the list, and in step306 the server copies the selected theme settings to the settingdocument for the room being decorated. In step 307, the server sends anew set of instructions to the user browser which represent thedecoration, or aesthetic characteristics, of the room being decorated.

If the user selects option 2, in step 308 the server provides a list ofoptions, or user interface (UI) elements, to tweak. In step 309, theuser selects a UI element (or option) and in step 310 the serverdisplays the possible tweakable, or modifiable, attributes for thatelement. In step 311 the user selects the attributes and indicates thechanges. In step 312 the server modifies the room settings document, andin step 313 refreshes. This results in step 307, in which the serversends the new set of decoration instructions to the browser.

For decorating a room being entered by a user, in step 321 the userenters a request to enter a room. In step 322, the server accesses thecurrent room settings document for the room to determine if settingsexist. If so, in steps 323 and 327, those settings are returned to theuser browser for displaying the room. If not, in steps 323 and 325ancestor rooms are traversed, looking for a room with settings and, ifnot found, in step 326 the server accesses the gallery resource databaseto obtain default decoration settings for return to the user browser.

Collaboration

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a user interface anddata storage model is provided whereby a published piece of content onthe web can be simultaneously edited by an author and saved periodicallyby the author, yet the published version doesn't get touched (modified)by viewers until the author is ready. This achieved by having the servermanage both the published version and a draft under construction suchthat the published version is made available for viewing by some userswhile another user is modifying the draft, and then merging the twoversions into a new published version. The server delivers to the usermaking the modifications a complete set of offline code, including areplica of the server and of the draft while maintaining a healthyreplica with respect to security.

Replication

Referring to FIG. 33, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of thearchitecture of the invention, there are provided a server side segment163 and a client side segment 159. Server side elements 163 are used bya website developer to prepare a Domino application to work offline.Client side elements 159 are those elements which must be installed toan end-user's machine in order for the Domino application to run. Dominoruntime services (DRS) 163 comprises utilities that help assemble anappropriately minimized set of files 409 to include for producing aclient-side 159 install which can make a Domino web application rundisconnectedly on a client machine. A DRS client 159 comprises astripped won locally running Domino server, including service manager422, dedicated to running only one Domino web application. This localserver needs far fewer feature elements than a full online server.Client side elements are installed on the end user's computer bydownloading and running the install program 422 that is built using DRSserver side 163 elements.

A software system environment is organized into segments 159, 163, whichare major configuration groupings. Within segments are items, which aresoftware items which are environmental or deliverable items. QP server163 is a deliverable item. Netscape 4.5 browser 101 is an example of anenvironment item. The sum of the segments define a system. Deliverableitems include software units.

First, with respect to the server side segment 163. Environment itemsinclude, for example, WIN NT 401 as the operating system, mail router404, and QuickPlace server 163, Domino server 132, HTTP task 134 forserving web pages, and Domino extension 160 for opening a Notesdatabase. QP server extensions 160 are inside the Domino box, and anitem within that box is the ID assignment utility 402.

Four, primary architectural components comprise the Domino OfflineServices, and support the offline environment ID assignment extension.These are first (I), ID assignment utility 402, second (II) Dominoruntime services (DRS.nsf) 403, third (III) DRS download control 407,and fourth (IV) footprint 409. The first architectural component is theID assignment utility 402, which is a sub-task within the QP utility 160involved in supporting the off line environment. The secondarchitectural component is the ID certifier repository 403, which is asmall DLL for executing the appropriate setup. The third architecturalcomponent is download control 407. The fourth architectural component onserver 163 unique to going offline is a collection of compressed NotesDLL's, compressed for downloading, referred to as the “footprint” 409.These four architectural components, together comprise the Dominoextensions required for taking offline a server, such as a QuickPlaceserver, including code, data, and a fully functional security model, toenable that server to function offline in either a web browser or Lotusclient environment.

QuickPlace server (QPS) 163 keeps a copy of a Notes certifier identifierin DRS.nsf, and that certifier ID supports the dynamic creation andgeneration of Notes user ID's. Main.nsf is a QP database in which ismaintained special pages, or scenes, dedicated to offline operation.These offline scenes trigger the DRS download controls, including activex and Netscape plug in. Active x is the name of a component model thatextends Internet browsers. Java applets, active x comments, and Netscapeplug ins are different ways to augment browser function with code thatthe browser executes.

When a user visits an offline page, the download function is triggered.Go offline scenes 405 are QP 163 pages in server 163 that provideinstructions on how to go offline, and provides the download controlwith right parameters for downloading. In this context, down loadincludes downloading web site code, which is the minimum software neededfor client segment 159 to run offline (that is, detached) from server163.

In operation, a user at a browser visits a web site, encounters adownload page, or offline scene, and activates download control withparameters specific to the web site being visited. In response, downloadcontrol 407 loads to the client environment a set 435 of nsf files forincrementally executing download functions. Four steps 435 are executedto incrementally install at client 159, from footprint 409, the agentfiles, full text index files, and so forth required to operate browser101 offline.

The first step, step 411, determines which Notes ID is to be utilized.If the client is a browser (not a Lotus Notes client), this step 411triggers ID assignment utility 402. ID assignment utility 402 obtainsthe certifier ID from repository 403, and from that generates the NotesID which it passes to download control 407. With that Notes ID, downloadcontrol selects and downloads the appropriate footprint files, or DLLs,409.

The second step, step 412, an instance of download control 407 on theclient side 159 uncompacts the downloaded footprint files to generateinstaller files 413.

The third step, step 414, executes the installer files which prompts theuser for information, installs several execute files, includingnhttp.exe; installs several DLLS, and prepares the Notes.ini files. Atthis point, a fully installed file system exists on the client,including the DLLs that comprise the runtime of Notes. nhttp.exe 414 isthe same web server component code as http 134 on the server side. Thisfile 414 is the program that serves web pages, together with the Notesrun time DLLs that support it, and these accumulate in directories atthe client in preparation for step 416, when Main.nsf 193 will bedownloaded. This file 414 is a critical component, and is, in effect,the mini server task, including the same code that comprises the webserver component at the server. As a result of this identity, bothonline and offline pages exhibit the same behavior to the user. Thus,browser 101, when operating on line, accesses web server 134, and whenoperating off line, accesses web server 414. In both cases, the behavioris the same.

Components installed by step 414 (step 416 brings down the data) includea base grouping 420, including the service manager 422 execute (.exe)file, the http component 423,previously described, update component 424,and replicator component 421. These are the key, or base grouping, ofcomponents brought down in step 414 and activated every time there is anoffline configuration. Because replicator 421 is required to be kept upto date, and http 423 required to be viewable in browser, update service424 keeps the other two (421 and 423) aware of each other's actions.When replicator 421 brings new documents to a database, it doesn'trefresh the views. Because http 423 assumes the views are refreshed,update 424 sees that they are.

If more are services needed, step 414 may activate additional services429. Other services 429 possibly includes mail dispatch, full textindex, agents, Lotus script, Java back end classes, and so forth. Theseare controlled by the service manager 422. Service manager 422 is theprogram that the user interacts with after download is completed.

In the fourth step, step 416, first time replication brings downmain.nsf by turning on the Notes DLLs with the Notes ID that waspreviously downloaded, and then running them as though they were a Notesclient for replication. An advantage of this approach is that thereplication and security model of this web client is exactly the same asthat for a Notes client.

At this point, a user can start using this offline version of the website.

Service manager 422 is a utility a user can launch from a desk top, fromstart menus, and from a driver tray, and behaves like a system driver.Such a driver, if clicked on in tray, gives in a pop up menu suchoptions as online, offline, synchronize now, edit synchronizationproperties. Synchronization properties is a tabbed dialog (or, in QP, aweb page), which is a piece of user interface for setting thereplication schedule and any required user filters. Examples of userfilters include filters on how much data to bring down: such as, daysworth, no more than x bytes, or stop after an hour. Service manager 422also launches other tasks as needed by service manager 422 without userintervention. Thus, service manager 422 is an easy interface to acustomer, and is a smart manager of mini server tasks.

Architecturally, main.nsf 196 includes a cross link component—a piece ofhtml or some kind of web element that is highly customized to a specificapplication and which is consistent in role to main.nsf 193, giving theuser a visual indication of version of main.nsf is being used (online193 or offline 196). With one click at the browser 101, the user canmove to the other main.nsf version. This is useful after main.nsf isdownloaded first time. Web browser 101, after download refreshesmain.nsf 196, shows a go offline link that sits in top bar of theapplication, such as a QuickPlace application, view panel and whenclicked switches the browser to the client http task 414 from the serverhttp task 134. Thus, the off line url is for the client machine 159, andthe on line url is for the server machine 163, and these url's onlydiffer in the server name part of the url.

At this point, the user uses a personal copy of a web site. Replicationis triggered thereafter by schedule or at user request.

Download is done using http protocol, transported on TCP/IP port 80.Notes replication is transported on TCP/IP port 1352. This arrangementallows for a fire wall between client 159 and server 163. This fire wallmust be configured by the administrator to allow transfer because httpis not a secure protocol. A security variation uses https for download,and encryption is turned on for replication protocols.

Uninstall 417, when executed, cleans everything brought down except fora version of download control 407 cached at client 159.

In accordance with the security model implemented by the preferredembodiment of the invention, the user ID is used by all processes,particularly the replicator, to assure that a user is not able to accessanything to which the user is not entitled. Main.nsf offline 196 onlyincludes what the user is allowed to see when accessing main.nsf 193 atthe server.

Forms Creation and Maintenance

Referring to FIG. 34, it is a further aspect of the invention that thereis provided to a user at a browser the ability to create and maintainforms 331, 333, and incorporate them into a room. Any page, or document,in the system is created using a form, which is a layout that identifiespage content in the terms of fields 335, 336, which map to items 337,338 and 339, as illustrated. One form may be used to create more thanone document, as is illustrated by field 335 of form 331, which is usedin defining item 338 in document 332 and item 339 in document 334. Aform provides fields and layout.

Referring to FIG. 35, from a browser, a user with manager access to aroom can create a new form by defining the fields that make up the form:name, field, type. Types are edit box, radio button, check box,attachment, and are the same as field types in Notes or HTML. User(manager) goes to customize page, selects forms page, and selects thenew form button. A screen comes up asking for the name of form, thefields in the form, and the workflow attributes of that form. The useradds fields by selecting add fields, in response to which a list offield type appears. The user then chooses field type (edit box, checkbox, rich text, attachment, author, date, etc.). Behind the scenes, anote 331 is associated with the form and a note 342 is associated witheach field. A field note 342 is associated with each field 341 in theform note 331. A QuickPlace form object 343 is a form note 331 andassociated field notes 342. Depending on the type of field selected,each field note 342 has different attributes.

After a user has created a QuickPlace form, to put this form intoaction, this or some other user creates a page using this form. Forexample, an inventor may come into the place where this form is storedand address the form by the name given by the author. The QuickPlacesystem creates a page using the definition of the form which includesthe field notes 342, the layout from the form note 341, and workflowattributes. A document is a type of note. Other types of notes are view,folder, agent and form. When user hits “done”, browser sends a page withdata to server which creates the resulting document 332. The page 332presented to the user by the server can be used by the user, who fillsout the values for the fields 346. Thus, a document is created by aserver from a browser entered page.

By providing an interactive facility in QuickPlace for accepting andstoring form data in an object store, which is a database or page, atthe server, there is provided a way for a client at a browser to createforms which include a definition of where and how data should be stored,and which enables others to manipulate the form.

A Notes form is a Notes object that is used as a form by a notesdesigner and user. In QuickPlace, the client is the browser, so Notesforms need not be used. Rather attributes of a QuickPlace form arestored in a note using a record in a database.

Notes offers a number of objects, including the Lotus Notes Product,which includes databases, which includes notes, which are view, folder,form, agent, and document notes. Applications are built on this model.

In Lotus Notes, a view is a collection of documents. A folder is acollection of documents. A form is an object that contains fields andlayout, and is used for the creation of documents. A document is arecord in a data base. An agent is a set of instructions or logic thatperform a given function, such as a macro defined by the agent creator.

In QuickPlace, Notes objects are fine tuned to support a Notes client,where the client is a web browser. In accordance with the QuickPlacemodel, there are provided places, which contain rooms, members, formsand fields, and where a room contains folders, and folders containpages.

To build or implement this QuickPlace model on top of Notes object modela Place becomes a file system directory (which is not a notes object), aroom becomes a note (of type database), a folder becomes a note (thatstores folder attributes)+folder or a note (a store of folderattributes)+view, depending upon which is most convenient. A page is anote (of type page, containing data associated with page), a member is anote (of type member) in the member's database, a form is a note (a formnote), and a field is a note (a field note). Note types are page,member, folder, field, form, and room.

Workflow

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, workflowfunctionality is provided at a browser. A user fills out and submits aform on the web. It then travels to individuals in a prescribed set andorder. The form is submitted via HTTP to a server. The server createsother pages and elements to be delivered back to browser. These elementsstore state information about the pages submitted to track who has had,and who needs to get the form and in which order. When a browser definesa workflow document, E-mail notifications are sent by the server to eachperson along the path. In this way, a user is enabled to define aworkflow document with a browser that can be executed by many otherusers with browsers.

In this workflow process, after an author has created a form withseveral fields, workflow logic is added. When creating the form, authordecides type of work (editor in chief, approval cycle, multipleeditors). Editor in chief allows specification of a person to approvethe page before it will be published. Approval cycle specifies a list ofindividuals that the page is to go to serially; that the pages that arestill pending be placed in a holding folder; who can edit the page afterfinal approval—final reviewer or page creator; and who can read the pageafter approval. In creating and using workflow forms, the QuickPlace isaccessed by room, then room options, forms, create new form, workflowbuttons are selected to bring up a screen with all of the options.

Workflow attributes of a QuickPlace form created by a browser are storedwith the form note, enabling the QuickPlace server to properly controlthe workflow routing. A page created from the form includes the securityitems h_readers and h_authors, each of which includes a list of one ormore people. Readers can read, authors can edit, thus allowing securityto be at the page level. h_cycle list provides a list of people in theapproval cycle. At end of approval cycle, the page can be directed to aspecific folder. Readers and authors are security items stored withevery page; other attributes (than these security attributes) arestrictly workflow attributes, such as current approver, which is used todetermine where the page goes following current approval, and so forth.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, fivedifferent workflow processes are supported. These are standard workflow,simple submit workflow, approval cycle workflow, editor-in-chiefworkflow, and multiple editors workflow.

First, standard workflow. This workflow process allows the user toeither publish a page immediately or publish with options. This is theworkflow process that is used for the standard forms which ship withQuickPlace and is the default workflow process for custom forms. Optionsavailable to a user who creates a page which uses this workflow are (1)publish immediately, or (2) publish with options.

Publish Immediately: If the current context is a folder, the page ispublished and put in that folder. Otherwise the user is asked where itis to be put (in a folder or in the table of contents (TOC)). On acustom form, the creator of the form can also indicate what folder thistype of page should be put in, in which case the user is not asked forthis information.

Publish With Options: The user can publish the page or save it as adraft. If it is a new page, the user is allowed to select where it is tobe put (folder or TOC). If a previously published page is being edited,the user can choose to revert to the published version. If it is beingpublished, the user can select from none to all of the followingoptions:

Notify: allows the user to send an E-mail with a link to the currentpage and some explanatory text.

Add Authors: allows the user to specify who is allowed to edit this page(if not selected, only the author can edit the page).

Restrict Readers: allows the user to specify who is allowed to read thispage (if not selected, everyone can read it).

Add to Calendar: allows the user to specify a date and time so the pagewill display in the calendar as well as the folder in which it is put.

Move: this is only available during edit (not for new pages) and allowsthe user to move the page to a different folder or to the TOC.

Second, simple submit workflow. This workflow process allows the creatorof a custom form to indicate what to name the submit action (forexample, it may be named “Done”). This action then works exactly likePublish Immediately, described above.

Third, approval cycle workflow. This workflow process allows the creatorof a custom form to indicate up to four approvers for a sequentialreview workflow, and to choose among the following five form creationoptions: (1) In Process Folder (optional), which specifies what folderthe page will reside in during the approval cycle (see below for whathappens at final approval). (2) Final Editor, which specifies whetherthe author or the final approver is the person allowed to edit the pageafter approval is complete. (3) Final Readers, which specifies whethereveryone, or just the author and approvers, are allowed to read the pageafter approval is complete. (4) Final Location, which indicates whetherthe final approver determines where the page goes (folder or TOC), orthat the page will simply be moved to a specific folder upon finalapproval. (5) Rejection Destination, which specifies who the next personin the workflow is if any reviewer rejects the page, either the authoror the previous reviewer.

In approval cycle workflow processing, two form use options areavailable. First, when a user creates a page with this form, a Submitaction is provided. Selection of Submit brings a scene where the usercan select Submit or Submit with Explanation, and if In Process Folder(see above) is not indicated, the user chooses where to put the page(folder or TOC). Selection of Submit automatically sends an email to thefirst approver, with a link to the page, notifying there is a page whichneeds review and making the first approver the sole editor of the page.Submit with Explanation allows the author to add some explanatory textto the email. Second, when a reviewer has reviewed and possibly modifiedthe page, a Submit action is also available. Selection of Submit bringsa scene similar to the one described above, except that options toReject, or Reject with Explanation are also presented. Rejected pagesare moved to the Rejection Destination (described above). E-mail is sentto the next reviewer, and the next reviewer becomes the sole editor ofthe page. If the current reviewer is the final reviewer and FinalLocation (above) is set to final approver, the destination for the page(folder or TOC) is selected.

Fourth: editor-in-chief workflow. This workflow process is essentially asingle approver workflow. The options described above are automaticallyset as follows and, with one exception, are not modifiable by the customform creator. If the form creator wants different options, an approvalcycle workflow process may be used with one approver. The optiondefaults for editor-in-chief workflow are as follows. (1) In ProcessFolder (optional) is the only modifiable option and defaults to none.(2) Final Editor: the page author is the editor (if the page isre-edited, it goes through the approval again). (3) Final Readers:everyone can read. (4) Final Location: approver decides. (5) RejectionDestination: the page author.

Fifth: multiple editors workflow. This workflow process is exactly likethe Standard Workflow, except that instead of the author indicating whocan edit the page, all people with author access to the room are allowedto edit the page.

Forms Upload

In accordance with a further object of the invention, a user can decidethe appearance of an HTML form using an HTML editor and save to file. Tomake it a QuickPlace form, the HTML file is uploaded through a bucket,and the server converts it into a QuickPlace form. In this manner,externally designed HTML forms can be incorporated into a QuickPlacesite. Once a form is a QuickPlace object, it has additional features.This form may then be offered to authors to create new documents. It isavailable in the room in which the user is operating, and can be adaptedto workflow.

Upload Agents

In accordance with a further object of the invention, a user with abrowser can write and upload to a server logic that will react to thesubmission of a page. By way of example, a form is developed to allowpeople to submit patent applications. This is put in QuickPlace patentsplace. To manage the creation of these pages, logic is added to the formvia Lotus script or Java. For example, whenever a page is submitted, andthe description includes “workflow”, then the page is filed in a folderfor “workflow”. In this way a user may independently develop logic andthen upload it to his QuickPlace place.

TABLE 1 QUICKPLACE COMMANDS (See Table 2 for definitions of the fieldslisted as arguments.) h_ChangeACL Creates, removes, or modifies newaccess to a room for a list of users. Arguments include h_SetEntryNames,h_SetEntryTypes, and h_SetAccessLevels. h_CheckHuName Checks if a givenQuickPlace Name h_Name is available. Two QuickPlaces cannot have thesame name. h_CreateFolder Creates a QuickPlace folder. Arguments includethe user visible name of the new folder and its style, whether standardlist, headline, slide show, response list, or ordered list. Argumentsinclude h_Name, h_FolderStyle, h_FolderStorage. h_CreateGroup Creates agroup composed of the specified users. Once created, the system mainsfour fields for each group, including: h_Name, h_SystemName, h_Members,and h_Type. h_CreateOffice Creates a new QuickPlace (formerly known asan office). This means creating a directory for the QuickPlace, creatingthe tope level room specified (and any subrooms specified by that room),and creating a manger for the QuickPlace. Arguments include h_Name,h_AreaType, h_AeName, h_UserName, h_Password, and h_EmailAddress.h_CreateRoom Creates a QuickPlace room as a subroom of the current roomwith the specified aesthetic set and of the specified room type.Arguments include h_Name and h_AreaType. h_CreateUsers Creates membersin a Place. Arguments include: h_SetUserNames, h_SetPasswords,h_SetEmailAddresses, h_SetNewLevels, h_SetEntryNames, andh_SetAccessLevels. h_DeleteFolder Deletes the current folder. Noarguments. h_DeleteGroups Deletes one or more groups from a QuickPlace.Argument: h_SetGroupNames. h_DeleteOffice Deletes one or moreQuickPlaces. Argument: h_HaikusToDelete, which is a textlist ofQuickPlaces to be deleted. h_DeletePages Deletes pages indicated in theargument h_SetDeleteList. h_DeleteRoom Deletes the current room. Noarguments. h_DeleteUsers Deletes the specified users from the system.Argument: h_SetUserNames. h_MoveRoom Moves a room within the roomhierarchy. Argument: h_NewRoomName, which is the nsf name of the room'snew parent. h_ReorderRoomArea Used to change a room name, set the maildelivery into a specific room, show or hide the calendar, securityinformation to reader and authors, and to reorder the table of contents.h_SendMail Sends an email to the indicated recipients. Arguments includeh_SetPublishEmailAddresses, h_SetIPPublishEmailSubect, andh_SetPublishEmailMessage. h_SetAesthetic Sets aesthetics on a room bycopying from a stored aesthetic set, copying from the parent'saesthetics, or resetting a room to use is parent's aesthetics. Argumentsinclude h_AestheticCmd and h_AeName, which is the name of the aestheticset stored in the QuickPlace Resources (Resources.nsf). h_SpellCheckSpell checks the indicated test. Argument: h_PageText. h_UpdateGroupChanges the name or membership list of a group. Arguments includeh_SystemName, h_Name, and h_Members. h_UpdateUser Changes a user'sinformation. Arguments include h_SystemName, h_UserName, h_FirstName,h_LastName, h_EmailAddress, h_SetPassword and h_Phone.

TABLE 2 FIELDS OF QUICKPLACE OBJECTS BASIC h_Type: The type of object.One of: page, folder, room, subroom, error page, roomType, h_Member,h_Group, h_Form, and h_Field. h_Name: The user visible name of thisobject. h_SystemName: The name of this object as known to the system.h_isSystem: 1=This is a system object. ROOM h_HaikuName: The name ofthis Place. h_AreaType: The name of the template used to create thisroom. h_AreaParent: The name of the parent database. h_ShowSecurity: ifh_SetSecurity=1, servers sets h_ShowSecurity to 1. h_SetCalendar: 1=Showthe Calendar in the sidebar. h_SetTutorial: 1=Show the Tutorial in thesidebar. h_SetSecurity: 1=Show Security in the sidebar for Readers andAuthors (if they select Security in this case they will see only theirown information). h_MailDb: The name of the database that receives emailaddressed to this Place. h_LastAttachmentDirectory: Last directory usedwhen getting attachments. h_DirtyAesthetics: Number which indicateswhich items should be checked (once a part of the aesthetics has beentweaked, the check mark indicates that part has already been changed).h_AreaHasAesthetics: 1=This room has its own aesthetic settings. FOLDERh_FolderStyle: One of standard list, headline, slide show, responselist, and ordered list. h_FolderStorage: The name of the folder as knownto the system. h_CanAddPages: 1=All authors can add pages to thisfolder. 0=Only managers can add pages to this folder. FIELDh_ContainerUNID: The UNID of the Form which contains this field.h_FieldType: h_Subject Subject h_TextInput Simple text (<input>)h_RichText Rich text h_Attachments Attachments h_TextPopup Text selectlist (<select> <option>) h_NamePopup Select listing members of the ofthe QuickPlace h_DateControl Date field with date picker widgeth_TimeControl Select lists for hours, minutes, AM/PM h_CalendarControlIncludes date and time controls and a duration field h_Serial A uniquenumber h_Static Static text and/or graphic h_DocAuthor Original authorof the page h_DocCreated Creation date of the page h_DocModifiedModified date of the page h_DocSize Size of the page h_FieldLabelInstructional information, only displayed in edit mode, that might beuseful for someone editing this field. h_FieldFormat: Indicatesformatting options for h_CaledarControl Whether date, time and/orduration are included h_Subject Whether banner is displayed or optional.h_FieldIsRequired 1=The field is required and the user will be promptedif it is not filled out. PAGE h_Form: The QuickPlace form used to createthis page. h_PageType: Usually null. Could also be h_Response,h_Revision, or h_Mail. h_NameIsBanner: 1=The name of this page should bedisplayed as a banner. h_Originator: The creator of this page. FORMh_FormDescription: The description of the form that appears in the “New”scene. h_WorkflowType: h_ApprovalCycle Allows 1-4 approvers and someother options h_EditorInChief Allows 1 approver and fewer options.h_MultipleEditors All members of QP can edit pages created with thish_Standard None of the above h_SetPageComponentsView:Should=h_FieldDefinitions. h_IsUserDefined: h_True means this is acustom form. h_PublishInFolder: UNID of the folder + “|”+h_FolderStorage name of the folder. MEMBER h_Password: This member'spassword. Encrypted with @Password. h_FirstName: This member's firstname. h_LastName: This member's last name. h_PhoneNumber: This member'sphone number. h_EmailAddress: This member's email address. GROUPh_Members: The list of members who belong to this group. PUBLISHINGh_IsPublished: 1=This object is currently published. h_IsHidden: 1=Thisobject is not shown to the user. h_SetReadScene: The name of the defaultscene (subform) to use when viewing this object. h_SetEditScene: Thename of the default scene (subform) to sue wen editing this object.h_PublishedVersionUNID: If this object is being edited and the currentobject is the draft version, the UNID of the published version of thisobject. h_DraftVersionUNID: If this object is being edited and thecurrent object is the published version, the UNID of the draft versionof this object. h_LastTimePutAway: The last time that this object waschanged: Published or Saved under construction. LOCATION h_FolderUNID:The name or UNID of the Notes Folder where this page resides. h_IsInToc:1=This object is shown in the Table of Contents (sidebar).h_CurrentPosition: The position of this object with respect to otherobjects in the collection. h_SetParentUNID: If this is a child orresponse object, the UNID of the parent object. SECURITY h_Readers: Ifthis object is protected from readership, the list of names, groups, andor roles that can read this object. h_Authors: If this object isprotected from authorship, the list of names, groups, and or roles thatcan author this object. WORKFLOW h_WorkflowState: h_New Created but notyet submitted for approval. h_Submitted Has been submitted and it isbeing reviewed. h_Published Has been approved. h_Rejected Has beenrejected. h_SetNextStageUser: The name of the next person in theworkflow cycle. h_CurrentApprover: A number designating the currentperson in the workflow cycle. 0 means the Originator. The list ofpersons associated with the workflow cycle is stored in the form used tocreate this page. See h_Form. CALENDAR h_CalendarDate: The calendarfields are present when the page has been added to a calendar. The datethat his object should appear in the calendar. h_CalendarTime: The timethat this object should appear in the calendar. h_CalendarDuration: thelength of time associated with this object when viewed in the calendar.

ADVANTAGES OVER THE PRIOR ART

It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system andmethod which enables a user to accelerate productivity by easilycreating and maintaining collaborative spaces on a network.

It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system andmethod which enables a user to customize security attributes of rooms ina collaborative space including a hierarchy of rooms.

It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system andmethod for uploading documents which involve the more intuitive processof dragging and dropping the document to a spot on the site where it isto be rendered.

It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system andmethod for managing security of files in a hierarchical database suchthat security may increase or decrease at a child with respect to itsparent.

It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system andmethod for enabling browser creation and modification of web sites.

It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system andmethod for enabling uninterrupted online and offline updating of a website.

It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system andmethod whereby the aesthetic characteristics of a parent room may beinherited by its children rooms.

It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system andmethod for enabling a browser to define a work flow document andprocess.

ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS

It will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of theinvention have been described herein for purposes of illustration,various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. In particular, it is within the scope of theinvention to provide a computer program product or program element, or aprogram storage or memory device such as a solid or fluid transmissionmedium, magnetic or optical wire, tape or disc, or the like, for storingsignals readable by a machine, for controlling the operation of acomputer according to the method of the invention and/or to structureits components in accordance with the system of the invention.

Further, each step of the method may be executed on any generalcomputer, such as an IBM System 390, AS/400, PC or the like and pursuantto one or more, or a part of one or more, program elements, modules orobjects generated from any programming language, such as C++, Java,Pl/1, Fortran or the like. And still further, each said step, or a fileor object or the like implementing each said step, may be executed byspecial purpose hardware or a circuit module designed for that purpose.

Accordingly, the scope of protection of this invention is limited onlyby the following claims and their equivalents.

We claim:
 1. Method for applying aesthetics to sub-rooms withincollaboration space, comprising the steps of: modifying aestheticsparameters of a room; and applying the modified aesthetics to a numberof sub-rooms that were previously created, said sub-rooms thusinheriting said modified aesthetics from said room unless aestheticsparameters of said sub-room had been previously explicitly modified. 2.A method for applying aesthetics to places within collaboration space,comprising: creating a room that is characterized by a first aesthetics;creating a plurality of sub-rooms from said room after said roomcreation; modifying said first aesthetics to a second aesthetic; saidroom now characterized by said second aesthetics; wherein said sub-roomsinherit said second aesthetics unless said sub-rooms were previouslymodified with a third aesthetics.
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: selecting a presentation format from a gallery ofpresentation formats by which a room manager may originally select andsubsequently modify said aesthetics of said room and sub-rooms.
 4. Amethod for applying aesthetics to sub-rooms within collaboration space,comprising the steps of: modifying aesthetics parameters of a room; andapplying the modified aesthetics to a number of sub-rooms that werepreviously created, said sub-rooms thus inheriting said modifiedaesthetics from said room; wherein each said sub-room inherits saidmodified aesthetics from said room unless the aesthetics of thatsub-room had been previously explicitly modified.
 5. The method of claim4, further comprising the steps of: maintaining a gallery database ofaesthetic themes; responsive to user selection at a browser of acustomize room decoration action, presenting to said user a first optionfor selecting a preset theme and a second option for modifying anexisting theme; responsive to user selection of said first option,providing a list of themes stored in said gallery database and,responsive to user selection of a theme from said list, copying theselected theme settings to a setting document for said room and servingback to said browser instructions representing the aestheticcharacteristics of said room; and responsive to user selection of saidsecond option, providing a list of user interface elements to modify;responsive to user selection of a user interface element, providing alist of possible attributes for said selected element; responsive touser selection of the attributes and modifications, modifying a roomsettings document and refreshing said display with a new set of browserinstructions representing the aesthetic characteristics of said room. 6.An article of manufacture comprising: a computer useable medium havingcomputer readable program code means embodied therein for applyingaesthetics to sub-rooms within collaboration space, the computerreadable program means in said article of manufacture comprising:computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effectmodifying the aesthetics of a room; and computer readable program codemeans for causing a computer to effect applying the modified aestheticsto a number of sub-rooms that were previously created, said sub-roomsthus inheriting said modified aesthetics from said room, wherein eachsaid sub-room inherits said modified aesthetics from said room unlessthe aesthetics of that sub-room had been previously explicitly modified.7. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying aprogram of instructions executable by a machine to perform method stepsfor applying aesthetics to places within collaboration space,comprising: creating a room that is characterized by a first aesthetics;creating a plurality of sub-rooms from said room after said roomcreation; modifying said first aesthetics to a second aesthetic, saidroom now characterized by said second aesthetics; wherein said sub-roomsinherit said second aesthetics unless said sub-rooms were previouslymodified with a third aesthetics.
 8. The program storage device of claim7, said method steps further comprising: selecting a presentation formatfrom a gallery of presentation formats by which a room manager mayoriginally select and subsequently modify said aesthetics of said roomand sub-rooms.
 9. A method for decorating in accordance with aestheticcharacteristics a room being entered by a user in collaboration space,comprising the steps of: receiving from a browser a user request toenter said room; determining if a room settings document with currentroom decoration settings exists for said room; if so, returning saidcurrent room decoration settings to said browser for displaying saidroom; and if not, traversing ancestor rooms for a room with decorationsettings for return to said browser for displaying said room, and ifancestor room decoration settings are and, if not found, accessing agallery resource database to obtain default decoration settings forreturn to said browser for displaying said room; wherein each said roominherits said aesthetics characteristics from an ancestor room or saidgallery resource database unless the aesthetics of said room had beenpreviously explicitly modified.
 10. A program storage device readable bya machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by amachine to perform method steps for decorating a room being entered by auser in collaboration space, said method steps comprising: receivingfrom a browser a user request to enter said room; determining if a roomsettings document with room decoration settings exists for said room; ifso, returning said room decoration settings to said browser fordisplaying said room; and if not, traversing ancestor rooms for a roomwith decoration settings and, if for return to said browser fordisplaying said room, and if ancestor room decoration settings are notfound, returning default decoration settings to said browser fordisplaying said room; wherein said room inherits said room decorationsettings from an ancestor room or default decoration settings unless thedecoration settings of said room had been previously explicitlymodified.
 11. Method for applying aesthetics to rooms withincollaboration space, comprising the steps of: creating a first room withfirst characteristics; creating at least a second room as a sub-room ofsaid first room, said second room inheriting said first characteristics;modifying said first characteristics to provide second characteristicsfor said first room; and thereafter applying said second characteristicsto a third room created as a sub-room of said first room; and applyingsaid second characteristics to said second room unless said second roomhad been previously modified with third characteristics.
 12. A programstorage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program ofinstructions executable by a machine to perform method steps forapplying aesthetics to rooms within collaboration space, said methodsteps comprising: creating a first room with first characteristics;creating at least a second room as a sub-room of said first room, saidsecond room inheriting said first characteristics; modifying said firstcharacteristics to provide second characteristics for said first room;and thereafter applying said second characteristics to a third roomcreated as a sub-room of said first room; and applying said secondcharacteristics to said second room unless said second room had beenpreviously modified with third characteristics.
 13. A system formanaging aesthetics of a document in a place within collaboration space,comprising: a place server; a graphics server; a database; a cache; saidplace server being responsive to a request from a user to serve a placeto a browser, said place having first aesthetic characteristics; saidplace server being further responsive to a document created by saiduser, said response including the application of said first aestheticcharacteristics to said document; and said place server being furtherresponsive to any modification of said first aesthetic characteristicsof said place, said response including the application of said modifiedaesthetic characteristics to said document unless the aesthetics of saiddocument had been previously explicitly modified.
 14. A system formanaging aesthetics of a document in a place within collaboration space,comprising: a place server; a graphics server; a database; a cache; saidplace server being responsive to a request from a user to serve a placeto a browser, said place having first aesthetic characteristics; saidplace server being further responsive to a document created by saiduser, said response including the application of said first aestheticcharacteristics to said document; said place server being furtherresponsive to any modification of said first aesthetic characteristicsof said place, said response including the application of said modifiedaesthetic characteristics to said document; and said place server beingfurther responsive to any subsequent modification of said modifiedaesthetic characteristics, said further response including theprevention of said subsequent modification of said modified aestheticcharacteristics from being applied to said document.